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100% Honey Whole Wheat: My Formula, Take One

January 19, 2010 - 11:01pm

Stephanie Brim

100% Honey Whole Wheat: My Formula, Take One

I actually put this together, meaning to for a while, after dmsnyder mentioned Suas's whole wheat. This is my first try at a truly 100% whole wheat bread and both Adam, my husband, and I think it's a keeper, but with one change: it needs more honey.

Soaker

200g whole wheat flour

115g white whole wheat flour

35g gluten flour

260g milk

Biga

200g whole wheat flour

150g water

5g instant yeast

Final Dough

all of the soaker

all of the biga

50g butter

55g honey (we think that 80g would have been better)

12g salt

25g milk

Method:

Put soaker ingredients together in a bowl and thoroughly combine. Set aside. Put biga ingredients together in a bowl and thoroughly combine. Place plastic wrap over both bowls and let alone for an hour or so. Mine went for a little over since I was feeding Alexander at the time.

To mix the final dough, break both the soaker and biga up into small pieces and place into the bowl of a stand mixer. Add all other ingredients and mix on low until everything is incorporated into the dough, then medium-low for 3-4 minutes until the dough no longer sticks to the sides of the bowl. Place in a bowl for bulk ferment.

During bulk ferment I did 2 letter stretch and folds. I don't really think I needed to as the dough seemed to be very elastic, but I wanted to be sure. Allow to double after the second stretch and fold if you decide to do it. Overall, the dough got a 2 hour ferment.

Cut into two pieces and shape into loaves. This worked for 1 loaf sandwich bread and about 4 rolls. Baked at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes, then went down to 325 for 10 minutes. I took the rolls out before turning the temperature down.

This is soft, light, and perfect for sandwiches. Both my husband and I like the fact that it isn't too heavy, yet it's 100% whole wheat. Considering the fact that none of my projects have been going completely right lately, this success (and one other that I'll mention on my other blog once I've figured it out *without* it being a slight accident) makes me feel good again.

Comments

As an aside, I think that putting the biga ingredients together the night before, perhaps putting both the soaker and biga together and then refrigerating, would help bring out more flavor from the wheat. I was just trying to throw together a bread that could be made within a 5 or so hour time frame and still be up to my standards...which have gotten much higher since I've started using more sourdough. The baguettes I made yesterday are being made into bread crumbs they're so tasteless. At least this gets flavor from the butter and the honey. :)

And further note: I used KA white whole wheat and regular whole wheat flours in this bread. If you do make it and find that your results aren't all that great, you may want to be sure you're using a similarly milled wheat flour. The whole wheat from KA is very finely milled, as is the white whole, and therefore produces a bread that's a bit more pillowy. If you want a little less pillowness, try adding some stone ground in there as well.

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